Sam Hain latest Trent Bridge knock passes outrageous milestone but Bears falter in defence

It was a pity that Sam Hain's latest knock at Trent Bridge didn't extract victory away from the Notts Outlaws

No wonder Trent Rockets felt compelled to recruit Sam Hain for The Hundred last year. It might be a slightly different form, for a different team, but the stats don't lie - Hain, consistently, has great fun at this ground.

By now, Hain - who has had a criminally small number of look-ins to international cricket with England but did, rather pertinently, score 89 here against Ireland when he did finally get his chance a couple of years ago - is probably quite fed up of fielding questions about why he hasn't been granted more opportunities up to now, as if he knows the secret answer.

He tends to let his bat do the talking and, at Trent Bridge, it tends to sing. All in front of the Sky Sports cameras, too.

Hain was undoubtedly coming into this Blast game, the first of the Bears' campaign, in fine fettle. His knocks of 86 and 87* in the frustrating draw with Worcestershire which ended earlier this week, comfortably the most of any player involved in the four-day game, were superbly judged and timed.

The same can't be said for opener Rob Yates, relegated to number three here, and he departed swiftly after overseas Tom Latham, who he'd swapped places with in the batting order, had been trapped lbw. Just like that the Bears, put in by their hosts, were 12/2.

What followed was precisely what the Bears were after, on a good batting deck and with a drying outfield meaning that anything not on point would often be punished. Trent Bridge isn't a big ground and once you develop a fluency out in the middle, there are runs to be had.

Captain Alex Davies posted an important knock of 40 at almost two runs a ball before he was caught, but Ed Barnard - whose numbers in white ball cricket for the Bears since moving from Worcestershire are pretty extraordinary, joined in the fun and complemented Hain, who was beginning to mess up some bowling figures - Conor McKerr went for 0/67.

They put almost a ton on, while George Garton chipped in towards the end of the innings too. Often a 28-ball half fifty would be a match winning knock, whether you're setting or chasing, but Barnard's mightily useful knock was comfortably overshadowed by Hain's 92 not out, which means he now averages 505 at Trent Bridge in T20 cricket. Read that again.

Now, 227 to win would be pretty unenviable a task in most circumstances, but Bears old nemesis Joe Clarke set a fiery early pace in the Notts powerplay, taking Garton and debutant Adam Sylvester for plenty. at 88/0, the Bears and skipper Davies desperately needed a breakthrough.

They got one, from old reliable Danny Briggs, who removed the dangerous Clarke with the help of Barnard in the deep. Spin twin Jake Lintott was introduced at the other end, and he too had the desired effect the very next over when he snared fellow opener Lyndon James, held well by Yates in the deep.

It was compelling viewing from thereon out. In Clarke's stead, Jack Haynes (89 not out, 41 balls) took up the mantle and continued to find the gaps in the field to ensure that the Outlaws remained well in the game. It was an imperious knock which - combined with Moises Henriques, who put on 100 from 55 balls as a pair - was measured incisively.

The Bears were without Dan Mousley, Jacob Bethell and Chris Woakes, who were all away with various England sides, without Moeen Ali who'll be retiring this summer, without overseas signings Beau Webster and Hassan Ali who are still away with their countries and without Richard Gleeson, who is still involved in the IPL.

It's a pity that the Bears couldn't get over the line for Hain's sake alone, for his was worthy of the status of a match-winning knock - but the night was Haynes'.